19 April 2008

As someone who has suffered in the past from acne I will provide you with some vital tried and tested tips.

***CLEANSE your skin***

It's really, extremely important to wash your face twice a day- morning and night- with a gentle, oil and frangrance free cleanser. Don't wash your face with the same body soap while in the shower as it will dry out your skin and clog your pores causing more pimples.

As you know there are 4 skin types: oily, dry, combination and sensitive skin.
I have oily/acne prone skin, so I always use a cleaner with either: benzoil peroxide or salicylic acid.
I also use a very gentle scrub (rounded mini beads which are not grainy and will hurt your skin.. I mean I know it's called a scrub but your not trying to scrub your skin OFF.) Scrubbing too hard will irritate and dry out skin making the pimples and pores redder as well.

I also use a toner because of my oily face. I used to use an astringent (from Clearasil, Clean & Clear, etc. I've tried em all) but found them way too drying.

My tip: Believe it or not.. Before bed I have started using witch hazel (my fave: HUMPHREYS Maravilla Witch Hazel available at most drugstores for a few bucks) on my face. I was extremely skeptical about using it when someone told me about this.

All you do after washing your face is: rub a cottonball drenched with witch hazel over your entire face and let dry. It acts as an astringent and helps eliminate impurities and will help dry the skin (so it is only to be used on oily skin really) and shrink the pimples.

Applying it before bed is the best idea. As you sleep your body goes through a lot of things: you're skin, metabolism and other organs are all restoring and naturally repairing. It is also noticable that if you do your beauty regimens at night, you will wake up pretty pleased after a good nights sleep.

***TREAT your pimples***

Apply an acne treatment containing benzoyl peroxide, glycolic acid, or salicylic acid over your entire face, not just where you have whiteheads and pimples. It takes pimples about 2 weeks to show up, so by applying to your whole face you stop future breakouts from forming.

If you wear make up, apply an oil free moisturizer with SPF of at least 15 (higher is better!) in it and then apply all your make up. At night I do the same. I also apply some moisturizing eye cream under my eyes.

Actually I used the Proactive system for about 4 years. It's only recently that I stopped (since I started using Witch Hazel). But the Proactive system helped break my break-out cycle and reduced my acne remarkably, I can't complain. It takes 2 weeks to clear your skin up though, it's not some overnight miracle as some people claim.

***CONCEAL your pimples***

If I have a pimple I use some foundation over my moisturizer and and make up powder. I apply the foundation with my fingers or with a small make up brush/sponge onto and around the blemish. Use your clean fingertip to wipe away excess concealer around the blemish and, if necessary, apply another coat of concealer. Then brush powder (I use a big make up brush) on top of the concealer.

-Keep your bed linens clean: dead skin, oil, cosmetics, hair products and dirt on bedsheets will be picked up by your skin while you sleep and will clog pores. -Keep your hands away from your face or other affected areas. They contain oil, dirt and bacteria that promote acne. Wash your hands often.

-A high-fiber diet of whole grain breads and cereals, bran, legumes (beans, lentils and split peas) and lots of fruits and vegetables is a good way to minimize eating the wrong foods. Often skin problems are rapidly improved when more fiber is added to the diet. Reduce your consumption of junk food and limit your total fat intake to no more than 20% of calories. Cut out hydrogenated oils. It helps give you a healthy digestive system and it's also believed that diets high in refined carbs promote acne.

-(!) It is very tempting to pop whiteheads, blackheads and pimples. Whiteheads are clogged pores below the outer layer of skin and should not be squeezed. By following the program outlined above, the whiteheads will disappear in a few weeks. Pimples may be squeezed when they are infected and have yellow pus if the proper procedures are followed---> Apply a warm compress to the area for a few minutes to open the pores, then squeeze with a clean tissue until all the pus runs out. This will allow the pimple to heal properly. Using fingernails will promote scarring and may be covered with bacteria that will enter the area and cause inflammation making your pimples worse. Lol, If I have a pimple I just stay far away from mirrors whenever I can for a few days till it dries up.:/

-Egg white mask: Clean your skin thoroughly and apply egg white with a cotton swab. Let it sit for 15 minutes. The egg white tightens pores and helps dry out your pimples. Don't do this every day though. Try it at the most twice a week since your skin will eventually just become immune to it.

4 comments:

For those underskin pimples, try using a teabag on them. Heat up the water as hot as you can stand it, dip a tea bag in. Squeeze the excess water out and apply immediately to your underskin pimple, still hot. Hold there until it cools and repeat process. Reduces swelling and red area for me.

Thanks for that great piece of advice mooch. I heard chamomile tea is good but I've never tried it. The lady at the drugstore recently told me.

I used to use proactive for 4 years and had great skin. But suddenly it doesn't seem to really do it's job too well so i have switched brands and now use Clearasil Ultra 3 step kit (cheaper too!). I don't know if maybe my face just got used to the proactive. My face is really clear right now though since I use Clearasil Ultra on a daily basis.

Oh and if you want a face mask for once in a while, I highly recommend the egg white mask. Only use it sometimes since skin will otherwise get used to the effects if used regularly.